Marcus Smart turns down draft, stays at Oklahoma State

Apr. 17, 2013
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March 21, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Marcus Smart (33) shoots against the Oregon Ducks during the second half of the second round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at HP Pavilion. / Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

by Sean Highkin, USA TODAY Sports

by Sean Highkin, USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart announced he will skip the NBA draft and return to school for his sophomore season

Smart was projected to be a high lottery pick in the June 27 draft. Instead, he will play a second season at Oklahoma State, where he won Big 12 Player of the Year honors as well as the Wayman Tisdale Award for most outstanding freshman.

"There's a lot of speculation going. I've been bashed and criticized that I probably made a mistake of coming back here, the NBA will be there, I should have took it, and this year's draft class is much weaker than next year's," said Smart, who led the Cowboys by averaging 15.4 points and 4.2 assists last season.

"But I think I made the right decision," he said. "All that was telling me, from those people that said that, is they don't have confidence in my ability and my game to compete with those players next year. You guys have given me that confidence to do that, so I chose to stay here. I'm aware of how much money I am giving up."

Smart announced his return in conjunction with teammates Markel Brown and LeBryan Nash during a news conference at the university's student union. Smart, Brown and Nash will give Oklahoma State the top three returning scorers in the Big 12 next season, and their return ensures the Cowboys will have their top seven scorers back from a 2012-13 team that went 24-9.

"This is an exciting time for Cowboy Basketball," said head coach Travis Ford said at the news conference. "All three of these guys will have an opportunity to compete at the next level. They realize and understand that the individual awards they received come from great team chemistry, playing well together as a team and winning basketball games. Staying in school also provides them with an opportunity to continue their education, which is very important to them and their families."

Smart's decision to return to school was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Smart averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game for the Cowboys during his freshman season.

"All my life, I've been a winner, you know, back-to-back state championships and then to come in and finally make the NCAA tournament. Just all my life I've been winning," Smart said. "But this team, I felt like we had a lot more to accomplish. We were a lot better team than that. That's just not the way we wanted to go out. It helped me a little bit to get motivated to come back this year."

Smart had said as recently as Monday, at a banquet where he received the Wayman Tisdale Award as the nation's top freshman, that he hadn't made his decision yet. But Ford said Smart informed him that night, after speaking with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and national player of the year Trey Burke from Michigan, that he intended to come back.